TV Talk Show Trailblazer Phil Donahue Dead at 88 Following Long Illness — Surrounded In Final Moments by Family, Wife of 44 Years and His 'Beloved' Golden Retriever

Legendary TV talk show host Phil Donahue has died aged 88.

RadarOnline.com can reveal Donahue, who first reinvented the TV talk show format as the host of The Phil Donahue Show in the 1960s and beyond, passed away on Sunday night at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan following a long illness.

His family said in a statement: "Donahue died at his home surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie."

Donahue pioneered the modern format of issue-based daytime talk shows – and was the first to add the staple of audience participation – when The Phil Donahue Show first premiered in November 1967.

His show later became one of the most influential programs of its time and remained influential until it ended in September 1996.

Besides hosting his eponymous daytime talk show, Donahue also regularly appeared on TODAY from 1979 to 1988.

TODAY hosts Craig Melvin , 45, and Sheinelle Jones , 46, announced Donahue's death during the show on Monday morning.

Jones said: "You know, we overuse sometimes the word trailblazer, but he certainly was, indeed."

Donahue's passing also comes months after he visited the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden in May.

The White House said upon presenting Donahue with the prestigious honor: "Phil Donahue is a journalist and television pioneer who pioneered the daytime issue-oriented television talk show.

"Donahue was the first daytime talk show to feature audience participation and one of the most influential televisions programs of its time."

Born on December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio, Donahue blazed a new path when his show debuted on November 6, 1967. Although he began his career as a radio host, he was recruited by the Dayton, Ohio TV station WLWD to repackage his call-in program for local TV.

Donahue quickly leaned into hot-button issues with his callers and also allowed audience members to ask questions. The first-time TV host, who was a devout Irish Catholic, launched one of his first episodes with a tense audience discussion with controversial atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

He said during an interview with the Archives of American Television regarding his first show: "Honest to goodness, I didn't think I was going to be able to get out of the building; people went berserk.

"We knew we had to have personalities that would move you to go to that telephone. The response was so intense that we paralyzed part of the phone system in Dayton."

Donahue also discussed his philosophy as a talk show host in 1993 when he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, saying: "A talk show is a fundamentally democratic event.

“It allows the people who really own the airwaves, the public, to stand up and actually use them. Nobody screens our audience. Nobody tells our audience what to say. This is the street corner."

Although The Phil Donahue Show aired its last episode in September 1996, the talk show pioneer briefly returned to TV in 2002 to host Donahue on MSNBC . The program was canceled several months later.

In lieu of flowers, Donahue’s family requested donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.

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